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"REINDEER GAMES"
(2000) (Ben Affleck, Charlize Theron) (R)

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QUICK TAKE:
Action/Suspense: An ex-con finds himself tangled up with a team of criminals who want to use him to help rob a casino after he gets involved with their leader's sister.
PLOT:
Rudy Duncan (BEN AFFLECK), who's incarcerated for grand theft auto, and his cellmate, Nick Cassidy (JAMES FRAIN), have only a few days to go before they're released from prison. While Rudy can't wait to get home for Christmas dinner, Nick pines away for his pen-pal sweetheart, Ashley (CHARLIZE THERON), a woman he's never met and who's never even seen a picture of his face.

Things take a turn for the worse when Nick is killed in a prison riot, but when Rudy is finally released and spots the gorgeous Ashley whom he's heard so much about, he decides to pose as Nick for some quick, noncommittal romance. Although Ashley isn't aware of Rudy's ruse, their weekend of love is interrupted when her gunrunner brother, Gabriel (GARY SINESE), and his team of thugs confront the two.

It seems that Ashley previously told Gabriel about Nick's former job at an Indian reservation casino, and with everyone thinking Rudy is Nick, they want his knowledge about the place so that they can rob it. Although Rudy repeatedly states that he's not Nick and tries to prove his true identity, the others won't believe him. When faced with possible execution, he decides to re-embrace his new alter ego.

From that point on, Rudy tries to figure out a way to either fool or get away from Gabriel and his thugs as they plot, stake out, and eventually try to rob the Tomahawk Casino that's run by James Banks (DENNIS FARINA).

OUR TAKE: 4 out of 10
Due to the classic 1964 Christmas special and the vocals of narrator/singer Burl Ives, most all of us know and can sing along with the fact that "All of the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names, they never let poor Rudolph, join in any reindeer games." The thing that few - if any of us - know, however, is exactly what "reindeer games" are. They're certainly not listed in the dictionary, nor to my knowledge has Sports Illustrated or ESPN ever covered them if they're anything similar to some sort of Artiodactyls Games of the Olympiad.

Of course, they could be of the card or word varieties, such as "Go Reindeer" (instead of "Go Fish"), or "Reednier" being the anagram for the antler-laden critters. Whatever, the case, it's highly unlikely that Ives or Johnny Marks (the composer/songwriter behind "Rudolph") was thinking of the action, adventure and double crossing found in this week's release of "Reindeer Games."

Clearly not designed for kids and having nothing to do with Rudolph - although some Santas are prominently featured - the film is something of a tongue-in-cheek play on the gritty action films of the 1970s. As directed by John Frankenheimer, who resurrected his career with 1998's "Ronin" and the TV movie "George Wallace" after the disastrous remake of "The Island of Dr. Moreau," (and long after the success of "The Manchurian Candidate"), the film clearly falls into the category that many call "guilty pleasures."

Those are films that on the surface don't have many redeeming qualities, or occasionally (and sometimes often) have ludicrous plots, writing, acting and directing (or all of the above). While this one certainly isn't that bad, it's probably a good bet that a good number of viewers and critics will react in a negative fashion toward it.

Part of that stems from a blatant need for a heavy dose of suspension of disbelief. Not only does the film start off with such a requirement - as the protagonist and his cellmate are to be paroled on the same day (for different crimes) -- but a progressive series of events, coincidences and twists and turns continuously push the film's credibility factor to the point that those not enjoying the stupid fun will get "eye-aches" from too much rolling occurring in that ocular region of their bodies.

As written by Ehren Kruger ("Arlington Road," "Scream 3") who's making a name for himself by writing twisting, but often credibility straining scripts, the film does move along at a good clip and rarely, if ever, becomes boring. The action scenes are filled with plenty of mayhem and there are a few decent suspense sequences to be had. Yet, Kruger and Frankenheimer pile on so many twists and turns toward the end - without any real reason other than trying to be clever and/or attempting to break the record number of them occurring in such a short time - that any last strains of credibility are pretty much wiped clean from the slate.

Playing the lead character, supposedly a lowlife car thief, Ben Affleck ("Dogma," "Boiler Room") is certainly engaging in the role and his natural charisma carries the picture and his performance further than either probably deserves. That said, he's never quite believable in the role and usually comes off feeling more like a frat boy goofing off in an acting class than as a real con.

That's also certainly true for Gary Sinise ("Mission to Mars," "Apollo 13") as the villain. While he's a bit old for the frat designation, he certainly chews on the scenery with an over the top, deranged villain performance that, truth be told, is somewhat fun to watch. Equally engaging to watch, if just for her beauty, is Charlize Theron ("The Cider House Rules," "Mighty Joe Young"). Although her character is similarly earmarked for the ensuing twists and turns, the capable actress can't do a great deal with the less than decently developed role.

For what's asked of them, the supporting performances are generally okay, with Dennis Farina ("The Mod Squad," "Get Shorty") getting the "meatiest" role as the casino manager. While the filmmakers obviously studied the original "Die Hard" film before creating and casting the main villain's team of right-hand men (such as having one passing time by reading from a financial magazine and commenting that there should be a second Christmas holiday earlier in the year since the economy is always strong then), the likes of Danny Trejo ("Con Air," the "From Dusk Till Dawn" films) and the others may come off as charismatically drawn, but in the end are barely developed secondhand thugs/space fillers.

While the film does have its share of problems, if viewers can manage to leave their brain at the door and keep their eye rolling down to a minimum, they may just find themselves somewhat enjoying this latest cinematic guilty pleasure. Although it's certain to be ravaged by many critics, the film often comes close to exuding the old "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" feeling that it's in on the joke about how stupid it just really is. Whether that's intentional or not isn't perfectly clear, but the film has enough moments of mindless fun and mayhem to earn a better than horrible rating. As such, we give "Reindeer Games" a 4 out of 10.




Reviewed January 21, 2000 / Posted February 25, 2000


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